Pirate Spiders (Mimetidae)
The spiders in this family, distributed throughout the world, are specialists: they only prey on other spiders. Pirate spiders invade webs and stealthily approach the occupants. Armed with long strong setae (spines) on the inside surface of their front legs, they embrace their inquisitive victims, bite them, and suck them dry through the legs, one after another.
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Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae)
A very large family numbering more than 2000 species throughout the world, wolf spiders do not spin webs to capture prey. Instead, they actively hunt on the ground, at night or during the day, depending on the species. Often very abundant, wolf spiders play an important role in many terrestrial ecosystems and types of habitats. Some species are specialists in woodland, while others live in sand, open fields, seashores, marshes, or on mountain tops.
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Some live in burrows, and can be spotted at night in the entrance of their burrows when their eyes reflect in the beam of a headlight. Others are nomadic. Wolf spiders are very often colored to blend into their surroundings. Female wolf spiders carry their egg sac attached to their spinnerets. After the spiderlings hatch, they climb on the mother's abdomen and are carried around for a several days. Lycosids have eight dark eyes in three rows, with four eyes in the first row, and very good eyesight.
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